Ron Popeil…legendary pitchman and self proclaimed “Salesman of the Century” (I assume Ron was talking about the 20th century) has moved on the great shopping channel in the sky (28 July 2021). From the UK “Daily Telegraph”…
“Ron Popeil, the self-styled ‘Greatest salesman of the [20th] Century’, who has died aged 86, was the founder of Ronco, purveyor of products with brand names often ending in “O-Matic”, that you never knew you needed – and probably discovered, too late, that you did not need.
His career began working for his father Samuel, a Chicago-based manufacturer of run-of-the-mill kitchen devices who had developed a sideline as an inventor of gadgets such as the Citrex juice extractor, the Toastette sandwich-pie maker and the Slice-a-Way cutting board.
Samuel also created the Chop-O-Matic, an onion-chopper employing a rotating, spring-loaded steel blade. At first, the Popeils sold the Chop-O-Matic through live demonstrations at flea markets, dime stores and at Woolworth’s. But in 1958 Ron began selling the gadget on television.
He made a five-minute commercial, reprising his sing-song street-vendor pitch: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to show you the greatest kitchen appliance ever made … If you order right now, the price is not $5.98, but $3.98. That’s right, $3.98. As a special bonus, you will receive with your Chop-O-Matic at no additional charge a valuable recipe book: 50 Secret Recipes by World Famous Chefs.'”
The big breakthrough for the Popeils came with the Veg-O-Matic, launched in 1963. The following year Ron founded Ronco, which went on to market hundreds of “amazing” gadgets to television audiences around the world, pioneering what became known as “infomercials” and, on packaging and in the print media, puffs featuring the phrase “As seen on TV”.
I’ve mentioned before the documentary… [Read more…]
